Welcome

The Poland Lab for wheat genetics at Kansas State University focuses on developing improved wheat germplasm along with novel breeding tools and methodologies.
Look around the site to learn more about our research projects and lab members.

Wheat is the most important staple food in the world and grown on more land area than any crop. In 10,000 years, the earth's population has doubled ten times, from less than 10 million to more than six billion now and ten billion soon. Most of the calories that made that increase possible have come from three plants: maize, rice, and wheat. The oldest and most widespread of the three crops is wheat. Wheat is the staple food of mankind, and its history is that of humanity. Read the exciting history of wheat at The Economist. Read More

Wheat breeders and scientists around the world will be able to download and use this invaluable new resource to accelerate crop improvement programs and wheat genomics research. The dataset will facilitate the identification of genes associated with important agricultural traits such as yield increase, stress response, and disease resistance and, ultimately, will make possible the production of improved wheat varieties for farmers.

Tucked quietly away in the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center is a treasure trove of genetics from around the globe. The Wheat Genetics Resource Center (WGRC) is an internationally-recognized gene bank that curates and houses more than 247,500 seeds from 2,500 wheat and wild wheat species accessions.